Old Cranky Man in an Old City Bar
by AjAwkwardsauce
Summary: Munch is all alone on Christmas Eve in a bar...what he is thinking about? And who will come to his rescue? The jingling of a bell signaled the entrance to the bar being opened. Or that Santa was here, John thought amused. One-shot songfic.


**I know it's not Christmas but this song came on when I was listening to my ipod on shuffle and well...I got inspired to write this. It was actually like midnight and I was half asleep and I just got up and started writing. I love that kind of inspiration. So I hope you enjoy even with the seasonal mix-up.**

**Oh by the way, you get the full effect if you listen to this song while reading it. (Old City Bar by Trans-Siberian Orchestra)**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Law and Order: SVU nor Old City Bar.  


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**John Munch sat in a bar in the middle of the city. It was dark and cold outside. The time somewhere around eleven. It was Christmas Eve and John had nowhere else to be. His friends had left long ago. Elliot and Olivia left first, saying something about wanting to spend their first Christmas together alone. Then Fin, saying he and his son were patching up their relationship. Then Casey who was drunk was given a ride home by Cragen. Melinda was last to leave. She was concerned about John because he had been unusually quiet. He assured her he would finish his drink and head off too.

_In an old city bar  
That is never too far  
From the places that gather  
The dreams that have been_

_In the safety of night  
With its old neon light  
It beckons to strangers  
And they always come in_

_And the snow it was falling  
The neon was calling  
The music was low  
And the night _

_Christmas Eve _

But that was two hours ago. He hadn't really known what to call the place he would go. It wasn't a home. There was no way the cold, dark apartment he spent the lesser part of his days at was a home. It was too lonely to be called that. So now John Munch sat at a table alone thinking of what to call his living space. The Christmas music played softly in the background and he watched the manager clean up the counter and glasses. The jingling of a bell signaled the entrance to the bar being opened. Or that Santa was here, John thought amused. He watched as a young boy walked in, he was dressed nicely. And John wondered why, if this boy could dress like that, was he in this part of town, at this hour. He had never seen the boy before.

_Then the door opened wide  
And a child came inside  
That no one in the bar  
Had seen there before_

_And he asked did we know  
That outside in the snow  
That someone was lost  
Standing outside our door_

"Do any of you know that person lost in the snow?" He asked pointing right out the door. Munch looked out the window and saw that beside a broken payphone was a girl shivering under a dim streetlight.

"I don't think she can get home." The boy said.

"Not that I care, but how do you know this?" The bartender asked.

"I've noticed, if someone could be home, they'd already be there." He looked right at Munch. If only I had a home to be at, Munch thought.

_Then the bartender gazed  
Through the smoke and the haze  
Through the window and ice  
To a corner streetlight_

_Where standing alone  
By a broken pay phone  
Was a girl the child said  
Could no longer get home_

_And the snow it was falling  
The neon was calling  
The bartender turned  
And said, not that I care  
But how would you know this?  
The child said I've noticed  
If one could be home  
They'd be all ready there_

He watched silently as the manager reached into the cash register and gathered the money that was there. He walked out from behind the bar and up to the boy. The two of them walked into the snow and cold, across the street to the girl. He watched from his lonely spot at his table as they talked. The window was frosted and it was difficult to see what was going on. But he did see the bartender call for a cab and send the girl on her way. Munch was surprised to see him give her the cash; every cent that was there, plenty more than the cab fare.

_Then the bartender came out from behind the bar  
And in all of his life he was never that far  
And he did something else that he thought no one saw  
When he took all the cash from the register draw_

_Then he followed the child to the girl cross the street  
And we watched from the bar as they started to speak  
Then he called for a cab and he said J.F.K.  
Put the girl in the cab and the cab drove away  
And we saw in his hand  
That the cash was all gone  
From the light that she had wished upon_

The selfless act changed John's perspective of people. Maybe everyone wasn't greedy and cruel. Maybe it only took one person to change someone's life. And Maybe just maybe if everyone were to care just a little more the world would be a better place. But that was just wishful thinking, because John Munch saw the horrors that life was everyday. People would have to care a lot more to change the world.

_If you want to arrange it  
This world you can change it  
If we could somehow make this  
Christmas thing last_

_By helping a neighbor  
Or even a stranger  
And if you ever need help  
You need only just ask_

Munch pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, John, what's wrong?" The woman's voice was worried. The sound of a little girl laughing in the background made him smile.

"Nothing Melinda. I was just wondering…could I stay at your house tonight?" He asked.

"Need a place to crash?" She wondered.

"No, I'm not drunk. But I don't want to be alone, I want to be with people I love." He smiled again at how true his statement was.

"Sure, need me to call you a cab?" She asked.

"Nah, I'll take care of it. See you soon Mel." He said.

"See you soon." He could hear the smile in her voice. The bartender returned to the bar alone, and John wondered where the boy had gone. When Munch went up to pay, the man refused the cash, saying it was on the house and Merry Christmas.

_Then he looked for the child  
But the child wasn't there  
Just the wind and the snow  
Waltzing dreams through the air_

_So he walked back inside  
Somehow different I think  
For the rest of the night  
No one paid for a drink_

Munch went outside and called for a cab. He stood under a neon sign in the falling snow. He gave Melinda's address as he sat in the back seat, he was heading home. Because home was where the people you loved were. And he was sure he loved Melinda and her daughter. He was glad to be going home at last.

_But you weren't there  
So you couldn't see  
By an old neon star  
On that night, Christmas Eve_

_When the snow it was falling  
The neon was calling  
And in case you should wonder  
In case you should care_

_Why we're on our own  
Never went home  
On that night of all nights  
We were already there._

_

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_**What didja think? Oh and I looked it up and it said that Melinda's daughter was born between 1989 and 1991 but then she'd be around the age of 18 or so so I just made her younger. Around six or seven. **

**Reviews are loved.**

**~BensonBaby  
**


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